


The Jade Cantata

by AttackPlatypus



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Gen, Jade Sea, Pit Fighter, Slavery, Westerosi, Yi Ti
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-08
Updated: 2017-08-21
Packaged: 2018-12-12 15:55:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11740299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AttackPlatypus/pseuds/AttackPlatypus
Summary: Ytani Moquo-Hari is a pit fighter, slave bred and trained to fight and, if necessary, die for the amusement of others. One day she meets a mysterious visitor from the far west who promises adventure and riches as well as great danger. In the fabled Golden Empire of Yi Ti, far from the lands and Great Houses of Westeros, she is about to embark on an journey that will change her life and maybe the world.





	1. Pit Fighter

Ytani Moquo-Hari spat a glob of blood down onto the wooden deck as she struggled to push herself up to all fours. The sounds of shouting and cheering all around her had dimmed suddenly and her own breathing suddenly seemed preternaturally loud. She shook her head once to try and clear it, but the world still seemed hazy. She looked slowly up and saw a forest of calves and feet before her. Summoning what little concentration she could she focused on one pair of bright red boots that were very prominent among all the faded and scuffed neutral colors around them. Still staring at them she took a deep breath and heaved herself to one knee. Abruptly her hearing returned and her ears were suddenly assaulted by the sounds of a screaming crowd.

A voice was bellowing in YiTish from somewhere behind her, loud enough to be heard over the crowd, “and it looks like our champion will continue!”.

“You’re damned right she will” Ytani thought as she spat another mouthful of blood before straightening to her full height, an admittedly not very imposing stature, and turned quickly. The spinning motion sent her long black braid whirling around her shoulders in a way the crowd clearly found thrilling as they bayed even louder. Ytani focused on her opponent, the one who had just sent her crashing down to the deck a moment before, but with a new expression her face. It was the look of a stalking cat with a new sense of her prey.

Physically he was much more impressive than her. He was very tall for a YiTish, well clear of six feet, with the bulging muscles of someone who had spent a lifetime heaving on ropes or oars. He had the same golden skin and dark eyes as her but his face looked as though it had been viciously slashed and pulped several times over the course of his life. And it probably had been.

Shaking her head once more Ytani began circling, a gesture he matched step for step. She’d been too careless at first, to dismissive of him as yet another untrained brawler. He certainly was both of those things but those enormous arms and powerful hands packed some serious power. Experimentally she darted forward and then leapt back, eliciting a slow but no doubt witheringly strong right hook from him that swished through empty air. The crowd groaned at this, clearly they’d been hoping the punch would take her head off.

She repeated this experiment several times with similar results. When she felt she finally had a better measure of his capabilities she began to work in earnest. Shooting forward again her foot caught on the deck and she stumbled forward onto her knees. The crowd roared with triumph and so did her opponent as he drew a fist back and sent it screaming down toward her face. Had she taken the punch it would undoubtedly have rendered her unconscious but fortunately for her, the ‘stumble’ had been deliberate. 

As the big fist hurtled down on her like a rock from the heavens she shot forward and dropped into a full split before driving a fist hard into his groin. She then dropped forward, her torso flat to the deck as the the momentum of his now wasted punch combined with the sudden agony sent him stumbling forward. He stumbled over her prone form before she tripped him by lifting her left leg. He fell hard, his face thudding against the deck. Quickly drawing in her legs Ytani pressed herself and reached her feet a moment later. Then she was on him.

Despite being on his knees he was almost as tall as her which worked to Ytani’s advantage. Seizing his right arm from behind she jerked it upward and then drove his wrist down with all her might onto her knee, which was rocketing up to meet it. There was a sickeningly loud cracking noise as the bones gave way that noticeably quieted the crowd. He’d still been whimpering from the blow to his groin but as the wrist broke it turned to an anguished howl.

He yelped again as her fist drove into the back of his head he then began flailing helplessly backwards with his left arm only to lash the empty air as Ytani had already taken several long steps back. As he moved to clutch at his mangled wrist she took one further step back before sprinting forward and leaping at him with both knees lifted high to her chest. She caught him square between the shoulder blades with both knees and her weight drove him down to the deck. Staying atop him when he hit she placed her knees on the back of his arms and began raining down hard punches onto the back and sides of his head.

He was extremely strong. Several times he almost succeeded in bucking her off but as she landed more and more punches on him his attempts became fewer and weaker. Eventually she simply grabbed his hair and began using it to lift and then drive his head back down onto the planks with a loud thudding. She did this no fewer than ten times before she finally released him. He lay facedown in a little puddle of his own blood, completely motionless, as she rolled off of him and lay on her back panting heavily for several seconds. 

The same loud voice from earlier was now roaring “and there we have it friends! Your champion remains undefeated in single combat!”. The voice was fainter now as the crowd had grow louder, making it’s disapproval known. Ytani was beyond caring at this point, as she always was at the end of such a fight. The adrenaline that had carried her through had fled with stunning rapidity. She knew she should rise and so made the effort but it felt as though she were trying to do so with zorse sitting on her chest. 

Finally managing to make it to a sitting position she again found herself looking at the legs of the crowd where she again spotted the incongruous pair of red boots. Letting her eyes drift upward she found herself looking up at a Westerosi. Even through her aches and fatigue this was enough to pique her curiosity. She had grown up in the various ports of the Jade Sea and had seen people from every corner of the world. And yet she could count on her hands the number of the strange pale skinned people from that distant land she’d ever even heard of never mind encountered.

Despite his odd appearance he was unmistakably a hard man. Not nearly as large or muscular as the man she’d just beaten he was nonetheless obviously in excellent in condition. He was clad in an odd mixture of furs and leather, odd due to the heat of the region, emblazoned on his chest was a strange device depicting a gray fish, and at his belt hung a short axe. His arms were folded in front of him and unlike the rest of the onlookers he wasn’t shouting, hooting, or baying for her blood. Instead he stared directly at her with dark eyes over a short brown beard. His expression was hard to read, some combination of admiration, amusement, and even mild scorn. On principle Ytani wouldn’t allow herself to break their eye contact first but this was rendered moot as her owner, the one who had been shouting to the crowd, walked to where she sat and hauled her to her feet with a hand under her right arm. 

“Is there anyone else here brave enough to face the Jade Fury in hand to hand combat?” he roared to the crowd. His name was Grazdan mo Kaknaq and he’d purchased Ytani as a child with the intention of sending her to be trained as a pleasure slave. Months of fruitless struggle had ensued as Ytani and waged a private war against those whose misfortune it had been to be her ‘instructors’. Fortunately Grazdan was above all other things a businessman. When he’d returned and been informed of her antics he’d promptly dumped her into a pit fighting school, but not before he’d given her the worst beating of her life.

Despite her bruises Ytani had still entered the school flushed with a sense of pride from her supposed ‘victory’ over her previous instructors. Unfortunately, her new instructors proved to be made of sterner stuff than the elderly concubines they replaced. When the viscously scarred and battered instructors at the school had sensed defiance from her they would respond swiftly and harshly. She’d received beatings from those who had tried to make her into a concubine, but they had mostly been older women who had been concerned not to mar her beauty. The old pit fighters had not been troubled by any such scruples.

And the discipline hadn’t been confined strictly to beatings either. Ytani had been forced to empty night soil buckets, clean the school, go without food or water, or worse. It wasn’t surprising that a school designed to produce pit fighters was full of dangerous and often wicked people, people who saw a nine year old girl as easy prey. The first time an instructor had barged into the small damp cell in the middle of the night she had fought and screamed. Of course she’d been a child with no chance of throwing him off her, and no one else in the school was going to come help her.

That was how life was at the pit fighters school. You got taken advantage of until you got strong enough to prevent it and to begin taking advantage of others. Her whole life had been that way and it still was with little prospect for change. That was part of the reason why she didn’t loathe Grazdan despite having myriad reasons to do so. He was simply doing what everyone did, looking out for himself. 

It seemed the crowd shared this point of view. Grazdan’s invitation to fight her caused the noise level to drop noticeably. She’d already beaten two of their number and it seemed that the remainder weren’t particularly interested in becoming a third. After a few moments the onlookers towards the back of the crowd began drifting away even as Grazdan exhorted them to find their courage. No such luck, less than two minutes later they stood alone on the deck of Grazdan’s ship. Alone except for the Westerosi, who seemingly hadn’t moved at all. He was still staring at Ytani, a fact she found mildly disconcerting. 

“Are you eager for a private match my friend? Or another sort of private meeting with the Jade Fury?” Grazdan asked the still staring man. Ytani winced at the second question but remained silent. It wasn’t all the unusual for those who had just seen her fight to then want one of the ‘private meetings’ Grazdan had mentioned, on one memorable occasion it had even been the man she’d just pummeled. If she was honest with herself she found these sessions to be less of a violation and more of an irritation. Her experience with the men, and some of the women, at the pit fighters school had long since made the simple act of sex a matter of indifference to her.

The Westerosi seemed amused by this suggestion as he gave a half smile and said “as enjoyable as that would be I’m actually here to talk business with you”.Grazdan, the consummate man of business, didn’t let any surprise show on his face but Ytani, who had known him for almost two decades, sensed it in him. Whether this was surprise at an unexpected request or at someone not wanting to sleep with her she couldn’t tell.

“I am always happy to discuss a chance for mutual profit, this way please” he said with winning smile as he lifted an arm to indicate the door to the main cabin where he slept and worked. The Westerosi didn’t answer but gave Grazdan a weak smile in return before, with one last intense glance at Ytani, allowing Grazdan to steer him toward the door. Before he shut it behind them Grazdan waved irritatedly at Ytani and told another of his slaves who had been standing respectfully beside the door “clean her up”.

In Spite of herself Ytani was mildly curious about what was going to be discussed in the main cabin. She thought about trying to insist on being there, Grazdan often allowed her more leeway than most of his slaves, but ultimately decided against it. His goodwill for her was finite commodity and she didn’t want to spend most or all of it gratifying her inquisitiveness. Putting it out of her mind she let the other slave, a girl named Zhara Rharr, to lead her below decks. She then spent the next hour or so letting Zhara tend to her wounds as best she could, though the Summer Islander was no healer. In the end most of what Zhara did was cosmetic, concealing injuries rather than treating them.

Still, Zhara was one of the few friends Ytani had in the world and she didn’t hold her lack of skill against her. She knew that Grazdan’s primary concern was keeping the silver flowing and this meant no long recuperation time between fights for Ytani. Thus when Zhara had finished Ytani thanked her and stood slowly. She ached everywhere but as she flexed her joints experimentally she suspected she had no serious injury. This pleased her and she was about to make some comment about the fact to Zhara when they heard a loud thump and clanging come from the other side of a bulkhead.

They both left the small cabin they had been in and hurried down a passage to the next cabin over where they found a man in a sputtering and cursing heap on the deck. He had obviously just fallen from the hanging cot that was still swaying from side to side above him. The bottle lying on the floor next to him further explained the situation. Ytani sighed as she entered the cabin and lifted the bottle to her nose. An experimental sniff told her that it had contained the local version of Arak. Lifting the bottle to her lips she let the remaining few drops dribble down her tongue. Wincing at the burning sensation even this small amount brought she set the bottle down on a hand crate and stepped forward to kick the prone man’s foot. 

“Did you finish that whole damned bottle in one evening?” she asked him as he twisted awkwardly trying to reach a sitting position. His efforts were complicated by his gray robes and and the odd chain he wore. Not for the first time Ytani wondered why he wore the awkward thing. It was impressive in an odd sort of way with it’s many links forming a loop that reached down to his breast bone. Most distinctively the links weren’t all made of the same metal as with most chains instead Ytani had seen iron, black iron, bronze, brass, steel, tin, silver, and some other metal that shone even more brightly than the silver. But it was wildly impractical and she was often surprised he hadn’t had it stolen yet.

“I...I...what? Where? If you must know…” he slurred as she finally managed to sit up. It was well past midday and Ytani strongly suspected he wouldn’t have left his cot for many hours yet if he hadn’t fallen out. 

“Are you alright Maester?” Zhara asked him solicitously from the doorway. Ytani rolled her eyes, thinking Zhara was being unduly deferential to a drunk. His name was Beolig and he’d joined the ship almost a year ago in Astapor having negotiated passage with Grazdan in exchange for his services as a Maester. Ytani had asked him once just exactly what being a Maester meant and had received a long winded answer that hadn’t impressed her. Something about being learned and a knight of the mind. Ytani didn’t know what a knight was but if all Maesters were like Beolig then she imagined they must be a useless lot. About the only thing noteworthy thing about Beolig was that he was a Westerosi, and the only one Ytani had ever had any lasting contact with.

This brought Grazdan’s mysterious visitor to her mind once more. She pondered again what sort of ‘business’ he might have to discuss with Grazdan. She was still thinking about this as she helped Zhara haul Beolig to his feet. He was a tall and gangly man, not at all suited to the low ceilings below decks. Finding a seat on another crate Beolig brushed helplessly at several stains down the front of his robe. 

“I am alright my dear…” Beolig answered Zhara as he looked blearily up at her “...though I would be better for some wine or ale” he finished hopefully.

Ytani rolled her eyes and told Zhara “don’t give him anything, he hasn’t done anything all day and if he gets another bottle he’ll be useless all night as well”. Beolig did his best to look indignant at this though this was difficult in his current disheveled state.

“I provide your master…” he put the slightest hint on the last word “...with invaluable counsel and expertise in a variety of matters that are far beyond the comprehension of a mere brawler like yourself”. Despite his drunken slurring he spoke in the aggrieved tones of a wise man beset by ignorance all about him.

“Grazdan had a question about the bottom of a bottle then did he?” Ytani asked dryly.

Zhara intervened before an argument could develop saying “I will fetch you a cup of water Maester, that should refresh you”. Beolig half raised a hand and looked as though he were about to offer a protest but Zhara had already left the room to be replaced by yet another of Grazdan’s slaves bearing a message. 

“The master wants you to join him in the cabin now, and invites the Maester to join him as well if it’s convenient” the slave said before vanishing. The difference in the wording of their summons being due to their differing statuses but it didn’t really matter. Aboard his own ship both an invitation and a summons carried the force a command when it came from Grazdan.

“On your feet you drunk” Ytani told Beolig as she tugged on the wide sleeve of his robe.

“But my water” he pouted as he reluctantly let her drag him to his feet.

“You’ll find some of the stuff you really want in the cabin I’m sure” Ytani said as she virtually frog marched him out of the cabin and up onto the deck. A minute later she knocked respectfully on the door and when she heard Grazdan’s voice call for her to enter she pushed the door open and shoved Beolig through.

“Ah good, you’ve both arrived” Grazdan called from the far end of a large table that dominated much of the outer cabin. The mysterious westerosi visitor was seated immediately to his right though he was for once ignoring Ytani. Large silver plates and goblets sat before each man with several dishes of food and a bottle of wine also in evidence.

“Thank you for your most gracious invitation” Beolig said, obviously working to minimize his slurring as much as possible. Grazdan waved him to the spot on his left where plate had been set, though Ytani noted it was made of pewter and contained markedly less food than Grazdan’s or his guest’s. As she’d expected Grazdan didn’t offer her a seat and instead turned once more to face his guest.

“This Maester Beolig, who is from your homeland, he has generously agreed to serve as my advisor and counsellor for some time now and this…” he waved off handedly at her “...is the slave you were so interested in”.

Grazdan’s guest inclined his head graciously at Beolig but turned his seat and spoke to Ytani saying “my name is Bryce Codd, Captain of the Green Kraken, and I am very happy to meet you Ytani”. She was surprised. Not that one of Grazdan’s guests would be happy to meet her, though that was odd, but at the perfection of his YiTish.

Ytani wasn’t sure how to respond to this pronouncement so initially said nothing but at a sharp glance from Grazdan she coughed and said “thank you” in the same language.

“Her specialty really is fighting not speaking, though she does have OTHER talents” Grazdan told Codd with a leer. Ytani bridled inwardly but knew better than to let it show.

“From what I’ve seen she has a real gift for fighting” Codd said as he toasted Ytani with his goblet.

“That she does, a very valuable commodity” Grazdan answered, putting the slightest emphasis on ‘valuable’.

Codd, if he noticed this he didn’t answer, instead he turned to Beolig and said “I’m surprised to find a Maester so far from the seven kingdoms”.

Beolig, who had been munching on a wedge of cheese, dropped it and swallowed quickly before responding “and I another westerosi good sir, might I assume you are a scion of House Codd of the Iron Islands?”. Codd inclined his head at this and the Maester turned to Grazdan saying “the Iron Island are famed for producing the greatest sailors in Westeros as well as vicious pirate- “ he abruptly cut himself off here realizing his mistake.

This piqued Ytani’s interest though she didn’t say anything. In the end it was Codd who broke the awkward silence with a smile saying “...pirates, yes Maester, our reavers are legendary”.

Ever the smooth diplomat Grazdan chivied the conversation forward saying “it is well that you know our guests family Maester as he has requested that you come accompany him on the next stage of his journey”.

Beolig’s eyes bulged slightly at this and he began coughing violently as Codd said “yes, Master Grazdan tells me you are quite gifted with languages and your chain speaks volumes to your learning”.

“I...I couldn’t possibly abandon Master Grazdan…” Beolig began to say.

“Your invaluable services to me have long since paid for the cost of your passage, many times over in fact” Grazdan put in, still smiling. Ytani had to conceal her own grin at this. Beolig may or may not have provided Grazdan with valuable services she didn’t know. But his constant drunkenness and uselessness about ship made him very unpopular among the rest of Grazdan’s household. She suspected her master was quite glad to have someone take the Maester off his hands.

So smug was she feeling about this that she almost missed Codd’s next remark “...and I would like to make you an offer for Ytani as well if I may”.

Looked at him sharply and then to Grazdan who was now leaning back in his chair, causing to creak beneath his weight. Her owner steepled his fingers and regarded Codd with shrewd eyes as he said “yes you’ve mentioned, and as I’ve said she is fairly invaluable to me…”. Ytani felt no rush of gratitude or fellow feeling as Grazdan’s words. He was only stating a simple truth. 

Grazdan, she knew, didn’t ‘like’ her per say. He valued her as a means of making money and appreciated her skills. In addition to her work as a fighter she often acted as his bodyguard or stood sentinel over particularly valuable cargo. Whenever he hired additional guards for a particular voyage he often tasked her with vetting them. Grazdan knew just how exceptionally valuable Ytani was and he rewarded her with more freedom than your average slave enjoyed, even occasionally allowing her to earn some money of her own.

Ytani’s feelings toward her owner were just as ambivalent as his toward her. Grazdan was a gluttonous and tight fisted owner with little compassion for his slaves. On the other hand he didn’t abuse her and probably would continue to not do so as long as she was useful. But that wasn’t a true liking. No it wasn’t any sort of true affection or loyalty that made her suddenly anxious at the possibility of being sold. It was simply the prospect of exchanging a known quantity for an unknown one.

She emerged from her reverie to hear Grazdan finish saying “...I simply can’t imagine selling her at this time though I can recommend some excellent slave dealers if you are looking for-”. He was interrupted as Codd tossed a bag, a VERY large bag onto the table between them. As the bag landed it’s surface it clanked in that way that only a bag full of coins could.

“Westerosi gold dragons” Codd said as he locked his eyes on Grazdan whose eyes were now as wide as Ytani’s were. She didn’t know what a golden dragon was but she knew that if the bag were filled with gold coins similar to the ones she knew of it was an amount almost ten times her worth in any auction.

Grazdan, for all his skill in negotiation, couldn’t keep a lecherous grin from his face. He reached for the bag and then stopped to look questioningly at Codd who nodded. His grin even wider now Grazdan began to untie the bags draw strings. He died happily.

In one lightning quick movement Codd stood and took one step around the corner of the table. Ytani was also standing as she saw the flash of steel and a moment later Grazdan was choking and coughing as blood welled from his neck. It spurted from around the knife that had appeared there as. Codd took a long step back from the dying man as he saw that Ytani was on her feet. He drew his axe but did not raise it as he stared directly in her eyes.

“THINK before you act now” he told her calmly. He gestured at the still choking Grazdan and went on “your former master is going to die, even our learned Maester here can’t help him now”. 

Ytani spared a fraction of a second to glance at Beolig who had shoved himself back from the table and was staring in wide eyed horror Grazdan. As he stared he stammered “I...I...what…”.

Ignoring him Codd said “even having known him for a short time I feel confident in saying that I doubt he treated you overly well”.

“He treated me well enough” Ytani said, though she was only half paying attention to their conversation. Her knees were slightly bent and she was ready to spring at a moment's notice. The only reason she hadn’t already darted out of the cabin was that she saw that his axe was clearly designed to be thrown as well as swung. She might make it, but then she might not.

“Well enough…” Codd said sounding almost disappointed at the answer “...don’t you think you deserve more?”

“And I suppose you’re the one who can give me more?” she asked sarcastically as she inched forward to see how he would react. Another few inches and she’d be able to snatch up the chair nearest to her.

Codd still didn’t raise his axe as he said “probably not, all I can offer is your freedom and a chance to get rich with me. And when you’re rich you can take care of your own comfort”.

She moved another cautious half inch forward as she asked “Why should I believe you?”

He smiled now, an expression of genuine amusement as he said “because I haven’t thrown my axe yet. I could have by now and you know it, and you’d have had no chance to grab that chair in front of you”. Ytani didn’t relax but on some level was impressed at his deduction. He noticed her rigid stance and sighed. He took a step forward, Ytani immediately took a matching step back, before tossing the axe to the middle of the table. “There, are you satisfied I mean you know harm now?” he said.

Ytani let her posture relax minutely but didn’t step forward to try and take the weapon. Codd undoubtedly had other weapons on his person and he might just be waiting for her to bend for the axe. They remained staring at each other for several moments before a timorous voice asked from beside them “can...can I go?.

Neither turned to look at Beolig but Codd answered him saying “if you wish, though I was serious when I said I wanted you accompany me on my journey as well”.

“I...well...that is to say...that’s very generous but I fear I must…” Beolig began.

“You should consider it Maester, from what I understand you don’t have any money and you’re stranded in an unfamiliar land” Codd told him, still staring at Ytani. Beolig seemed to be out of things to say for the moment and he didn’t respond. Codd then addressed Ytani asking “do you really want to fight me to avenge the death of an owner you didn’t even like?”.

That got her thinking. She wasn’t sure she would have died for Grazdan even had he been living. Still she had no real reason to trust Codd. To buy herself time she pointed at the knife in Grazdan’s neck and said “clever, prevent him from crying out”.

“I’m glad you approve”

Ytani bit her lip and, cautiously, took a step forward. When Codd didn’t move she took another and then another. Keeping her eyes locked on him she quickly leaned forward and snatched the axe up off the table. Codd still didn’t move as she stepped back once more. The axe was far heavier than she had expected but she was still confident that she could throw it with deadly results. After a moment she said “alright...let’s talk”.

Codd’s smile returned and he folded his arms once more before asking her “tell me...what do you know about Wyverns?”


	2. Riches and Risks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ytani Moquo-Hari is a pit fighter, slave bred and trained to fight and, if necessary, die for the amusement of others. One day she meets a mysterious visitor from the far west who promises adventure and riches as well as great danger. Ytani must learn what her new companion is after and what role she is to play.

As Ytani Moquo-Hari followed the strange Westerosi named Bryce Codd through the winding alleys and streets of Yin she couldn’t help but reflect on how much her life had changed over the course of that day. She’d woken up the prized possession of her former master, Grazdan mo Kaknaq, and now he was dead and she was trotting along behind the man who had killed him through the fading light of evening. The gods had a strange sense of humor she reflected.

As always those parts of the city around Yin’s harbor were teeming with people going about their business. The first thing she always noticed when she visited was the stink of it all. Unwashed bodies, rotting food, excrement, tar, and a thousand other odors combined to form a powerful smell that one felt as much as one smelled. This stench was broken only occasionally by the smells of frying food or other more pleasant scents as they passed a merchant selling flowers or incense.

Her former master had actually allowed Ytani to occasionally to earn some coins of her own and she’d insisted on retrieving this small stash before leaving Grazdan’s ship. Codd, the man who had killed her former master in his own cabin, had gone one step further and, after informing the rest of Grazdan’s slaves that they were now free, had set about looting as much as he could carry. The former slaves, including Ytani, had joined in with gusto. Grazdan may not have been overly cruel but he certainly hadn’t been loved. Most of the former slaves had looked on him with ambivalence, as simply another trial in life to be endured.

Thus it was with a bulging purse as well as a small sack stuffed with items she intended to sell later that Ytani picked her way around the piles of animal dung in the street leading west from where Grazdan’s ship still lay. His stripped body presumably still lay in the main cabin on board and probably wouldn’t be discovered until a city official came by to tell him he’d stayed tied to the pier longer than he’d paid for. The matter would probably be closed once the harbor officials had dumped his body into the water, happy to confiscate the fine ship for their own profit.

That was life in Yin, and Ytani suspected it was much the same anywhere one went. She’d met various priests and soothsayers during her life that assured her that the world was in fact a wonderful place full of loving and generous people. If so she’d seen no evidence of this. She didn’t necessarily view all people as evil either, just as self interested. They’d be as kind and generous as you liked as long as doing so aligned with their own interests or perceived interest. But she’d seen men killed for a single copper coin and young women kicked out of their homes for being pregnant, and she saw no inherent good in these things.

Rather than sink further into her gloomy reflections on the state of humankind she turned to look over her shoulder at Zhara Rharr who was struggling to keep up with Ytani and Codd in the long flowing gown she was wearing. Ytani by contrast was clad in leather leggings, hide boots, and a padded leather top. An outfit befitting her station as a pit fighter and a bodyguard, which she had been until about an hour ago. Grazdan had always seen Zhara as more decorative and as such had insisted she dress that way. Unfortunately her dress and delicate slippers were far from ideal for travelling through Yin’s seedier neighborhoods.

Several times already Ytani, sometimes with Codd’s help, had stopped to drive off men (and occasionally women) who had grabbed Zhara or stood in her way. In one sense Ytani couldn’t blame them, Zhara was a Summer Islander and even by the standards of that beautiful people she was a stunning woman. Still it slowed them and Codd seemed to be in a hurry.

Eventually Ytani called a halt as they passed a stall selling roughspun and cloth garments. She selected a long hooded cloak, a tunic, some leggings, and a pair of cloth boots and thrust them at Zhara saying “in the alley, quickly”. To her credit the younger woman nodded without complanint and stepped quickly off the street where she began disrobing. Ytani tossed some coins at the merchant that were probably worth double what the garments cost and then stepped after her. She glowered nastily at several men who stopped hoping for a look at Zhara as she changed and even waved her short sword once or twice.

Codd noticed what she was doing and came back to help though Ytani noticed he was careful to keep his back to Zhara. She found it odd that a man who had coldly murdered Grazdan a short while ago would be so gallant but decided not to ask about it. It was only when Zhara and finished changing and had stuffed her dress into Ytani’s sack (the slippers were a lost cause) that the fourth member of their party finally caught up with them.

“Seven hells…” panted Maester Beolig as he drew even with them “...these hills are quite steep”. That was putting it mildly but Ytani couldn’t help but think the tall spindly young man would have made better progress had he discarded his long robes and the odd chain made of many different metals he wore. He’d told her once it was a symbol of his status as a Maester, which she still didn’t quite understand, but now it was more of an impediment than anything.

“Don’t worry Maester...” Codd said as he hefted his short axe threateningly at a passing man who had been eyeing his purse “...we’re not far from my ships”. This caught Ytani’s interest as the man had only previously mentioned having one ship.

“Still...ah...Captain Codd…” Beolig said with a touch of pleading in his tone “...might we stop for some...ah...refreshment? Maester Howlan wrote in his most learned treatise on the human body that a correct amount of fluid was essential for the human form to-”. Codd cut him off with a smile that, while friendly enough, also carried a definite command to ‘be silent’.

“Never fear Maester, we’ll get you good and wetted before the night is out” he said before asking over his shoulder “are we ready?”.

“Yes” Zhara said as she drew the hood of her cloak up to hide her features. At that they set off again, making a much better pace now though this caused considerable hardship for Beolig. They continued their hurried journey for another twenty minutes before Codd took a hard left back down toward the harbor. A short time later they emerged onto a large dock with several long piers jutting out into the waters of the Jade Sea. Codd and Zhara were in the lead with Ytani bringing up the rear so she could periodically give Beolig a kick in the ass when he began to slow.

“My ship, the Green Kraken” Codd said as he waved toward the ship moored at the furthest pier from them. It looked unlike anything Ytani had ever seen and she’d spent a decade and more sailing east and west along the southern coast of Essos with Grazdan. It had a pointed bow, an extremely tall prow and stern, a hull that dipped low amid ships, two masts with three sails among them, and a long bowsprit mast that point upward and a shallow angle with another sail attached to it. The ship was made from some kind of dark wood that she didn’t recognize and the largest sails both had a large grey fish painted on them that matched the one on Codd’s chest.

“What is it?” Zhara asked as she and Ytani gaped at it. Ytani’s first impression had been that it was an ugly thing with it’s dark hull and oddly bulky frame. But she was sailer enough to recognize that the vessel would be swift and brute to overcome in a fight if fully crewed.

“Where I come from we call her a longship” Codd said, his voice full of pride as he led them on toward the ship.

“Indeed!...” Maester Beolig called from behind them, using the tone Ytani had come to recognize as the one he used when wishing to appear erudite “...Ironborn longships are famous for their qualities”. Codd nodded gracefully but didn’t respond to this compliment as they approached the ship.

“Ahoy the ship!” Codd called when the started down the pier where the Green Kraken was moored.

“Who goes there!” came a voice from the ship.

“You know bloody well who it is you damned fool” Codd shouted back. The crude sailors jargon sounded odd to Ytani coming out of the mouth of Codd. So far her impression of him had been that of quiet urbane courtesy couple with some private amusement at the world. Of course he’d also been quite swift in killing Grazdan so perhaps she didn’t have the grasp of his nature she thought. In either case a long plank was extended from the ship and dropped down onto the pier which Codd ran nimbly up. Ytani stayed behind to help Zhara up and then to shove Beolig much less gently onto the ship. She then followed though the plank wasn’t taken in after her.

She found herself facing more Westerosi than she had ever met in her life. There were about twenty of them waiting on deck as well as a smattering of other races including YiTish, Lengii, Ghiscari. And Summer Islanders. Off to one side, slightly apart from the others, sat a tall man clad in hides with dark eyes and dark hair in a long braid. He was watching Codd and the newcomers with predatory interest though he didn’t say anything.

“This is the Maester we heard about” Codd told an older Westerosi who looked as though he were about twenty years his senior. Now that he was aboard his own ship Codd seemed to have relaxed. Perhaps he’d been worried someone would be chasing them for the murder of Grazdan. If she he didn’t know as much as Yin as he should. He then gestured at Beolig who looked sheepish but tried to conceal it inexpertly.

“And these two?” the other Westerosi asked Codd as he looked at Zhara and Ytani.

“That one…” Codd said pointing at Ytani “...will be perfect for our plans and is great in a fight”. Though his tone and words were complimentary Ytani still scowled at him, not liking being discussed as though she weren’t there. “The other is her friend and might be useful aboard ship” Codd said, dismissing Zhara in a single sentence.

“Excuse me but THIS one can hear you and hasn’t agreed to do anything for you yet” Ytani interrupted irritatedly. Codd and the older man turned to look at her then and, as though given permission, so did the rest of the crew. Ytani found their combined interested uncomfortably but she forced herself to stare back at Codd.

“Very true” Codd finally said before turning to the assembled crowd to ask “don’t you scum have work to be doing?”. As though woken from a spell the crew dispersed quickly, all heading to different places and tasks around the ship though Ytani noted that some were only pretending to be busy.

“Forgive them ladies...” the older man said, surprising Rion by speaking in YiTish, as he stepped forward to offer Ytani his hand. She took it reluctantly and was surprised by the strength of his grip. He then released her hand and repeated the gesture with Zhara though since she didn’t wince Ytani thought he must not have squeezed quite as hard. He turned back to Ytani then and added “...men too long at sea will stare when beautiful women appear in their midst”.

Not allowing herself to be deflected by his gallantry Ytani turned to Codd and asked “so are you ever going to tell me why you murdered someone to get me here? A couple sentences about wyvern’s isn’t going to cut it”.

The older man gave Codd a sharp glance at this but Codd waved it away saying “of course, please join me in the main cabin and we will discuss it further”.

“I’d rather not” Ytani said, stepping protectively towards Zhara. She remembered what had happened the last time she’d been in a ship’s cabin with Codd.

Codd nodded, seemingly disappointed by not surprised at this and said “very well, where would you like to talk?”.

“Back on land” Ytani said shortly.

Codd exchanged another glance with the older man and then nodded as he said “very well, there is a tavern just up the hill will that serve?”. Ytani nodded and Codd smiled politely and gestured at the older man saying “I’ll send my friend Ser Thorance in my stead for the time being while I stay behind to settle the Maester into his cabin, then I will join you”. This seemed fair enough to Ytani who looked at Zhara for confirmation. The other woman simply nodded and they both moved aside to let Ser Thorance proceed them down the plank.

“I...I would like to join you if I may” Beolig put in while staring pleadingly at Ytani. She ignored him.

“I’ll see to it that you are well fed and watered Maester” Codd said as she took Beolig by the arm and steered him toward a door set in the aft castle. Turning away Ytani followed Ser Thorance back down onto the pier and up into the town. Sure enough after a short walk they heard the loud unmistakable sounds of a tavern ahead of them and upon rounding another corner spotted it.

Centered around a three story structure built in the distinctive YiTish manner the bottom floor seemed to be open on two sides with a bar and staircase in visible. A large collection of tables and benches filled both the area under the tavern’s roof and a large area around the building. Most them were full with locals from Yin though Ytanii saw sailors from a dozen different nations as well. A single fire burned under the tavern’s roof and another among the tables outside though it was hardly necessary given how warm the nights in Yin were.

Ser Thorance took an unoccupied table far from the largest concentration of revelers and beckoned for Ytani and Zhara to join him. A few moments later a pretty serving girl arrived and both Ytani and Thorance ordered ale. Zhara took longer and Ytani realized that this would have been one of the few times the girl had actually been given a choice about what she might want to eat or drink. Eventually she ordered a cup of wine and serving girl departed leaving the two women alone with Ser Thorance.

“And so…” Ser Thorance said “...young Codd has told you about the wyverns eh?”.

“Wasn’t he supposed to” Ytani asked curiously. She was eager to learn more about Codd from Ser Thorance while she had a chance.

“I suppose there’s no harm in it...though a venture such as ours tends to become more difficult the more widely know it becomes.” Ser Thorance said thoughtfully before trailing off. As she waited for him to continue Rion took this chance to study the old man. She supposed that in his youth he must have been quite handsome as even know he had a very strong jaw and a strongly muscled frame. His hair and beard were an attractive mixture of grey and black and he spoke like a man of some learning though his voice was gruff.

“Forgive me…” Zhara put in “...but are not wyverns a myth?”. As she asked Ytani noted that she still hadn’t lowered her cloak’s hood, a fact that seemed to be drawing some casual interest from those around them.

“Not according to the person who hired us or…” and now Ser Thorance rolled his eyes “...the ‘learned’ Maester Beolig” he finished in a half mocking tone. Ytani couldn’t help but agree with his sentiment.

“Is he really a...uh...a Maester?” Ytani asked.

“So it would seem, surprising isn’t it?” Ser Thorance said as their drinks arrived. He surprised Ytani by paying for all of them before shoo’ing the serving girl away and adding “whats more he even wrote a book on wyverns”.

“He did?” Ytani asked incredulously. Somehow she couldn’t picture the drunken sot she’d know being capable of doing anything as taxing as writing a book. He could barely get out of a hanging cot.

“And quite a good one it would seem…” Ser Thorance said as he sipped his ale and grimaced, Ytani did the same though she thought it was quite good. Whether he liked it or not he took another drink and said “...good enough that when our employer found out he was in the east he instructed us to try and find him”. By ‘the east’ Ytani supposed he meant YiTi and guessed that to a Westerosi the Golden Empire was indeed very far to east. She herself had only the vaguest idea of where exactly Westeros was. She had a notion that it was on the very far western edge of the world though she based that only on its name.

She wanted to ask about it but decided to start with a much more pressing question when she asked “and who is this employer of yours?”.

“I’ve no idea” Ser Thorance said as he looked down into his cup with disgust. He looked up and saw her look of skepticism and said “I really don’t, I’ve only ever dealt with intermediaries like the one who hired me in Volantis”. Again Ytani wasn’t exactly sure where Volantis was but had a better idea than with Westeros. She recalled faintly that it was somewhere west of Slaver’s Bay.

“And this employer wants you and Codd to do what exactly?” she asked.

“To capture at least two wyverns and bring them back Qarth” Ser Thorance said simply. Now that was a place Ytani knew, having been there several times while she’d been owned by Grazdan. Ser Thorance’s tone made it seem like a simple matter but from what little Ytani knew about Wyvern’s it seemed like his employer might as well have asked him to retrieve the moon.

She concealed this however as she asked “and how does this all affect me?”

“To be honest I don’t know, Codd seems to have taken a shine to you though and he’s usually a good judge of these things even if he is a damned pirate” Ser Thorance said into his glass.

That caught her attention and she asked “he’s a pirate?”. She’d know pirates of course, the Jade Sea was infested with them. Grazdan had worked out ‘understandings’ with the largest groups for their protection and goodwill but ships who didn’t do something similar had a better than even chance of being attacked along the coast. What surprised Ytani was that Codd didn’t seem like a pirate, though she guessed there was no reason why all pirates should have to be similar.

“Well…” Ser Thorance said fairly “...not currently anyway, I suppose the term would be ‘sell sail’ with his ship and crew, but I don’t doubt he would be if the mood struck him. He’s a good enough sort I admit but he is Ironborn...scum” he finished darkly.

“What is...Ironborn” Zhara asked.

“Their pirates and reavers from the Iron Islands, they’ve been the damned bane of every settlement on the coast or along a river in the seven kingdoms for centuries” Ser Thorance answered.

“The Iron Islands?” Ytani asked.

“The Seven Kingdoms” Zhara asked.

Ser Thorance sighed and said “nevermind, for now he’s in charge of the shipborne aspect of our little expedition”.

“And what do you do?” Ytani asked, she made her voice challenging but she was also legitimately curious.

Ser Thorance gave her a pointed stare and said “I’m the person who will be in charge of finding and capturing the beasts if we ever make it to Sothoryos”.

“You?” Ytani asked in disbelief.

“And why not?” Ser Thorance asked sounding miffed.

“You’re a bit old for it aren’t you?” Ytani asked.

He snorted in a way that made his beard ruffle for a moment before saying “I was fighting in tournament and battle before either of you was born and I’ll be doing it long after your smart mouth gets you killed’.

“Whats tournament?” Ytani asked, less because she was interested and more because she knew it would bother him.

“It is the single most noble feat of arms in the world, ordained knights riding tilts against each other to crown a single champion” Ser Thorance said in a reverent voice. Ytani exchanged a look with Zhara at this but it was clear his words hadn’t made sense to her either. Ser Thorance saw this and again blew through his beard in exasperation.

“And what makes you such an expert in combat eh?...” Ser Thorance said testily “...you must have done something to impress Codd” he asked pointedly. It wasn’t Ytani that answered however but Zhara.

“Ytani is a famed pit fighter from the Jade Sea to Slaver’s Bay...” she said in a very earnest tone “...she’s won hundreds of contests in both armed and unarmed combat”. Ytani tried her best to look as impressive as this made her sound but in truth it made her uncomfortable to be lauded like this.

Ser Thorance, as it turned out, wasn’t impressed. He scoffed and said “aye so you’re a brawler, I could go into any tavern or inn from her to the wall and find the same. I bet you don’t have an ounce of experience in proper battle do you?”.

“I don’t need to prove myself to you old man” Ytani said sharply, more stung by the old man’s derision than she cared to admit.

“Which wall?” Zhara asked.

Further conversation was cut off by the arrival of Codd as he squeezed his himself onto the bench beside Ser Thorance. He already had a tankard with him and he seemed his usual amiable self as he said “our good Maester settled in nicely once he had a pot of ale to himself”.

“He would…” Ytani said before locking eyes with Codd and saying “...Ser doesn’t like me very much”.

“Has he been insisting you call him that?” Codd asked with a smirk.

“What?”

“Ser”

“His name?”

“That's not his name, it’s his title...” Codd explained “...he’s a knight”.

“I don’t know what that is” Ytani said irritated.

“It doesn’t matter, some damned fool from his pathetic religion says some pretty words and suddenly the whole world is supposed to be impressed” Codd said with a grin at Ser Thorance.

“Better than your heathen demon of the isles” Ser Thorance snapped.

“What is dead may never die” Codd said piously. This was evidently some sort of a response but it meant nothing to Ytani so she didn’t say anything.

“I meant no offense lass-” Ser Thorance began.

“Which you showed by being offensive?” Ytani asked quickly. Codd snorted at this.

“...But if you don’t have any experience of true war I don’t see how you’ll be able to help” Ser Thorance finished as though he hadn’t been interrupted.

“I don’t have to stay here at all” Ytani said, starting to rise. Zhara did likewise but Codd help up a hand and beckoned them back to their seats.

He turned to Ser Thorance and said “it’s true you’ve fought in every war in the Seven Kingdoms and Free Cities since the conquest-.

“Watch it you salt rat” Thorance growled.

“...but allow me to ask you Ser Thorance, do YOU have any direct experience hunting and capturing wyverns?” Codd finished. That brought Ser Thorance up short. Codd waited but when the old man didn’t say anything he continued “as I see it NONE of us really knows what they are getting into here, we all just know we stand to get rich if we pull it off. Ytani is one of the best hand to hand fighters I’ve ever seen and I’ve been all over the world, it can’t hurt to have someone like her along with us”.

Ser Thorance muttered something Ytani couldn’t hear but she said “I’m not going anywhere with Zhara”. She meant it to. Slaves rarely had the chance to develop many friendships but she cared for the younger woman as much as she did for anyone. Enough that she was uncharacteristically sticking her neck out for her now.

Codd turned to look at Zhara and asked “what did you former master have you do?”.

Zhara looked down as she said “I cooked, I cleaned, I tended to Ytani’s wounds, and I…” she trailed off leaving the remainder of her duties unspoken. Everyone at the table understood what hadn’t been said however.

“We can find a use for all of those skills aboard ship…” Codd said before quickly adding “...except the last one, I’ll see to it that no one goes looking for it unless you invite them”. Zhara nodded first to him and then to Ytani.

“And how rich could we all become if we do pull this off?” she asked Codd.

“Each wyvern we bring back’s weight in gold” Cod said with a grin. Ytani’s world swam. With a share of that kind of money she could go anywhere and do anything she liked. She looked over at Zhara who seemed to be thinking the same thing if her expression was any judge.

“Equal shares?” Ytani asked.

Codd snorted and said “of course not, twenty percent for me, twenty for Ser Thorance here, ten for the Maester-”.

“What?! Why him?” Ytani burst out loud enough that several heads turned to look in her direction.

“Because…” Codd said, looking around quickly as though expecting to find the whole tavern listening in “...he’s the one with the expertise on wyverns that will allow us to catch one”. Ytani still found this very hard to believe but she just nodded. Codd waited to see if she’d speak again but when she didn’t he finished “and the rest of you will split the remaining fifty percent, still a LOT of gold”.

Ytani couldn’t argue with that. Once again she found herself considering how quickly one’s life could change as she lifted her glass and clinked it with those of her companions. That morning she’d been a slave and now she had a chance at untold riches. And all she had to do to get them was help capture a pair of vicious flying giant lizards to get it. Simple.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you like this second installment in this work series based in the universe of George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones. It's been fun watching as this project becomes it's own end and not merely a creative exercise. I hope you enjoyed reading it and if you did please subscribe, I'm trying to have new installments of Ytani's adventures out every week.


	3. The Proving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ytani Moquo-Hari is a pit fighter, slave bred and trained to fight and, if necessary, die for the amusement of others. One day she meets a mysterious visitor from the far west who promises adventure and riches as well as great danger. Having begun her new journey Ytani must use her time at sea to gain the trust of her new companions as her life might soon depend on it.

Two days out of the Yin and Ytani Moquo-Hari was extremely bored. Life aboard the Green Kraken, the strange ship owned by her new business associate Bryce Codd, simply didn’t keep her as busy as she would have preferred. Aboard the ship of her former owner, a man named Grazdan mo Kaknaq, she had been a slave but she’d also had myriad duties to perform. Aboard the Kraken the crew didn’t seem to know what to make of her and thus she spent most of her time on deck simply staring at the Jade Sea.

It wasn’t that she couldn’t have made herself useful, she was actually a very skilled ship hand having spent the last few years doing little but sailing back forth along the southern coast of Essos. But no one had bothered to ever been give her a job and when she’d asked she’d be brushed off. And so when she wasn’t on deck she was usually in the small cabin she shared with Zhara Rharr, another former slave of Grazdan’s and quite possibly Ytani’s only friend in the world. Zhara had been a decorative house slave in their previous life and thus also had little to do aboard a ship like the Green Kraken.

And yet, despite the fact that they were the only two women amongst a crowd of dangerous men, Ytani felt relatively safe. This wasn’t simply because she was one of the best pit fighters in the Jade Sea, though that helped. No it was one of the curious things about the crew of a well run ship, and Codd kept his crew well in hand, but as brutal and rapacious as they could be to outsiders they could be almost gentle to those they’d accepted as one of their own. And it had become clear to Ytani that most of the crew had extended that status to Zhara. 

Ytani had found it equal parts amusing and touching to see how the scarred and hard bitten crew had extended a clumsy kind of gallantry to the Summer Islander girl. Of course it was equally plain that some of this was simply an attempt to ingratiate themselves to Zhara in hopes of bedding her, as was to be expected. Yet Ytani also sensed that if someone from outside the ship had offered Zhara some kind of insult or injury the crew of the Kraken would have wrought a terrible vengeance on them. She’d even overheard several call Zhara the ship’s good luck charm.

Part of Ytani couldn’t help but be wistfully jealous of this attention. This was something of a new experience for her since previously her and Zhara’s worlds had only occasionally overlapped. Ytani had always been slightly envious of Zhara’s effortlessly elegant looks but had always managed to put this aside by telling herself that she was a pit fighter and her looks didn’t matter. Yet she was beautiful, and she knew it. Her long dark hair which she kept habitually braided, her piercing dark eyes, and lean yet athletic form had made Grazdan a great deal of money both in pits and in beds.

Frustrated with herself for even engaging in this line of thought Ytani shoved it angrily aside. She didn’t even particularly want the attentions of any of the men aboard the ship, it was absurd for her to be stewing over the fact that the crew seemed to like Zhara more. It wasn’t as though the girl had asked for it. And of course she wasn’t really a girl, it was just how Ytani thought of her. Sometimes, in her more candid private moments, Ytani wondered if she did so as a way of subtly diminishing Zhara in her head.

She was saved having to confront this by the arrival of Ser Thorance of Bounty Hill, the gruff old knight who was working with Codd for this journey. Ytani had learned from some of her stilted conversations with the crew that a ‘knight’ was some kind of holy warrior that fought in cumbersome heavy armor from horseback. This definition confused her since she’d never seen Ser Thorance in anything other than sturdy leather and as far as she knew he didn’t have a horse aboard. Westeros must be a very strange place she thought not for the first time.

“Are you busy?” Thorance asked her as he came to stand beside her. As Ytani was sitting on a barrel staring out at the water she didn’t see how she could be but she answered anyway.

“No, do you need something?” she asked in return. She wasn’t sure she either liked or disliked Ser Thorance. On one hand she appreciated his gruff and straightforward manner and speech. On the other hand the old knight had main plain his skepticism regarding her possible utility to their voyage. Still,Ytani had resolved to at least remain cordial with him whenever possible since it seemed they’d be working together for the foreseeable future.

“Aye, I do” Ser Thorance said as he gestured toward the lower section amidships, between the high prow and quarter decks, that was largely empty at the moment. “I wondered if you might be willing to train with me for a wee bit” Thorance said. Ytani looked at him out of the corner of her eye and noticed that in addition to the sword and dagger he always wore he had a shield slung on his back.

“Trying to test me to see if I’m really any good?” she asked him dryly.

To his credit Ser Thorance didn’t try to deny it. Instead saying “aye there is that, but there’s also the fact that I haven’t had a real training session in a long time”. He waved around at the ship and added “these Ironborn are fine raiders but none really know the art of the sword and these...foreigners…” he trailed off here as though he didn’t need to say anymore.

“And what makes you think THIS foreigner…” Ytani stressed the last two words “...will do any better?”

“Codd…” Ser Thorance said simply. Ytani rolled her eyes at this. Codd had been incessantly talking up her abilities since they’d left Yin to the point where it seemed as though she might casually beat the lion of night before her midday meal. Ytani thought he might be setting an impossibly high bar for her to live by and had thought more than once of telling him to lay off. Still it had been a long time since she’d had a proper training session either so she nodded.

“Let me get my gear” she told Ser Thorance before dropping from her barrel and heading below decks to her cabin. Zhara wasn’t there and so she quickly opened the bag of possessions she’d taken off of Grazdan’s ship and withdrew her weapons and armor. It didn’t actually amount to much as Grazdan had preferred to have her fight hand to hand both for the entertainment value to his audience and to minimize the risk to his property. But for the occasions where the fights had been to the death or when she’d had to act as his bodyguard he’d ensured she had access to the proper tools.

It had often struck Ytani as very bold on Grazdan’s part to allow one his slaves open access to weapons. Then again perhaps he’d been shrewd after all as Ytani, the only slave allowed such a privilege, had never actually tried to kill him. Though she’d also failed to prevent his death at the hands of Codd. Putting these thoughts out of her head she took a few minutes to don her armor and then headed on deck. When she got there she found Ser Thorance slicing his sword through empty air through a series of basic cuts that anyone with even a passing familiarity with a sword would have recognized.

She was momentarily surprised to see that the old knight had changed. He was now clad in a thick, and to Ytani’s eyes, cumbersome looking breastplate with an odd symbol painted directly onto the steel. His arms and legs were covered with pauldrons, gauntlets, skirts, and and schynbalds all of unadorned steel. Completing it all was a helm that looked more like a steel bucket than anything save for the faceplate that would extend down almost to the level of his gorget. At the moment however the faceplate was open to reveal Ser Thorance’s face and the skeptical expression on it.

“Is that it?” he asked her in a mixture of exasperation and incredulity as he looked at her much less elaborate equipment. It sounded as though he thought Ytani wasn’t taking their training seriously.

“It’s all I need” she said simply as she began stretching. For armor she wore a sturdy though light leather chest piece and bracers on each arm. The bracer on her right arm was a simple one of thick leather while the one on her left was much larger and featured iron plates both on top and underneath. Her boots were also made of sturdy leather but it was undeniable that she was much less well protected than her opponent. 

“Very well, I’ll try not to kill you then” Ser Thorance said, sounding privately amused at what he saw as Ytani’s stupidity. He turned to to the young man beside him and accepted his sword and shield from him. Ytani hadn’t learned much about him except that his name was Will and that he was Ser Thorance’s squire. Which as far as Ytani had been able to determine meant ‘slave’ though Ser Thorance had looked indignant the one time she’d pointed this out.

“I don’t think it will be a problem” Ytani said casually as she hefted her own weapons. In her right hand she held her short sword. About the same length as the distance between her fingertips and bicep it’s blade featured straight edges and a tapered tip. The grip was hard wood wrapped in leather and ended with a rounded pommel. Completing the sword was a short length of leather cord that was tied around the hilt and then looped around Ytani’s wrist. In her other hand was a more unusual weapon. It was known as a fist blade and consisted of a simple wooden grip connected to a small semi-circular blade. In between the two was a space for her to put her fingers before closing her first around the handle.

She had to admit that to any outside observer she would look ludicrously vulnerable when viewed next to the heavily armored and armed knight across from her. Not that she shared this view, she’d spent most of her life fighting bigger and stronger opponents. She flourished her own sword through a series of cuts before crouching low and locking eyes with Ser Thorance.

“Don’t kill each other” came a voice from above them and they both turned to see Codd looking down on them from the quarterdeck. Ytani also noted that a great many of the crew had found that their duties happened to keep them in the vicinity, apparently she was to be this afternoon’s entertainment. Yet she sensed even more in the staring eyes around her. It was plain that the crew were curious to see how she stacked up to Codd’s praise, she knew that if she failed to meet their expectations now it could make her life much more difficult. This was pressure she would have preferred not to deal with.

“I won’t damage your new toy Codd” Ser Thorance said before clanging his face plate closed. Now all Ytani could see of his face was the faint twinkle of eyes. 

“Actually I was talking to her” Codd said with a smile of his own. This drew an appreciative ‘uww’ from the watching crew. Ytani rolled her eyes but didn’t say anything she began slowly circling with Ser Thorance, never leaving her crouch.

Ser Thorance circled with her for a few moments before he said something that Ytani couldn’t understand through his helmet and lumbered forward. His armor clanked loudly as he walked across the deck in a way that reminded Ytani of a metal merchant’s cart. She stood completely still as he advanced and still hadn’t moved as he drew back his arm and sent his heavy long sword thundering down toward her.

Except Ytani wasn’t there anymore. The sword rebounded off the deck with a clanging noise as Ytani completely her quick sidestep and danced forward to bring the pommel of her sword down onto the back of Ser Thorance’s helmet with a loud clang. This drew some laughter from the onlookers as Ser Thorance swung a heavy backhand at her that again hit nothing but air as Ytani had already danced backward. 

“Too scared to stand in fight eh?” Ser Thorance boomed from inside his helmet. 

“No, just not dumb enough to” Ytani shot back as she began circling again. Instinctively she’d slipped back into her habits as a pit fighter, an art that wasn’t simply about killing but doing so in a way that was entertaining. Sure enough the crew laughed again at this exchange as Ser Thorance growled in his helmet. They circled for another moment before Ser Thorance again advanced, this time holding his shield before him. 

Ytani ignored this obvious invitation for another head on confrontation, something she would most definitely lose, and instead leapt quickly to her right. Ser Thorance shifted his shield to counter this only to find that Ytani had V-stepped before transitioning the move into a quick spin that took her along the knight’s sword arm. As she completed the spin she brought her sword up and rasped the edge along the side of his helmet. The crowd made appreciative noises once more. Everyone present knew that if they’d been fighting in earnest she would have just driven her sword into the vulnerable gap between helmet and gorget.

Again Ser Thorance tried to club her with a backhanded blow. This time however Ytani didn’t skip out of it’s reach and instead ducking under it leaving her right up against Ser Thorance’s armored chest. Unfortunately this left her with no room to properly swing her own sword and so instead she dropped down onto her back before quickly shoving herself up off the deck driving both her feet squarely into Thorance’s armored chest. This sent him staggering away, about the only way she could have shifted him at all in his armor, and thus allowed her to move to safety. 

The next exchange didn’t go as well for her as when she twisted away from wide slash of his sword he simply slammed bodily into her with his shield. The weight and force of the blow was simply irresistible and she was thrown bodily backward to the deck. A moment later his heavy boot came crashing down to the deck right next to her face. Knowing full well she would have just died if he’d wanted to kill her Ytani rolled away and resolved to be more cautious. 

Their sparring session stretched on, for how long Ytani couldn’t tell. To her it felt like she was dueling with a large tree. She could probably have simply evaded him forever but when it came time to try and attack him she had to strike with surgical precision. If she’d tried using brute force it would have been exactly like she was trying to hack through a thick trunk. For his part Ser Thorance was obviously frustrated with Ytani’s refusal to engage in hacking and banging game and his general inability to force her to do so.

She surprised him once by catching a chop of his sword on her left gauntlet, which was precisely when the wore it. The soft iron was thick enough to stop most blades while also trapping them temporarily. Other than this though she avoided much direct swordplay. Ser Thorance was, she had to admit, undoubtedly very skilled. She was even willing to concede that in a large battle his tactics might prove more effective than hers.

Still in this setting it was obvious she was having the better of their training. So it came as no surprise that after another quick flurry of blows that ended with Ytani holding her fist blade poised against the weak point between his skirts and schynbald he reached up to open his helmet and said “I yield I yield”. At this the crew around them cheered. Having fought in front of many crowds Ytani had grown used to reading them and she could tell that while neither of them had lost face in the crowd’s eyes today, she’d come out ahead. Nodding and even grinning a little she helped the knight to his feet, an act which nearly unbalanced her, and then sheathed her own sword.

Zhara was with her in a moment dabbing at a cut she’d received on her temple as Codd called down from above them “I told you she was good didn’t I Ser Thorance?”.

Ser Thorance didn’t answer right away. Instead he took a moment to hand his sword and shield to his squire. He then removed his helmet and looked at Ytani with narrowed eyes for several long moments. Ytani returned the look, ignoring Zhara as she did. Eventually however the old knight nodded at her and said, loudly enough for Codd to hear, “she’ll do”.

“Good!” Codd cried as he clasped his hands. He then conferred with one of his hands for a few moments before returning to the rail and calling down to them saying “we’ll be in Port Moraq before nightfall”. He was as good as his word and a few hours later Ytani heard the lookout call that land had been sighted. Ytani, who had been resting in her cabin, shot upright and headed up onto deck. She found most of the crew there staring ahead intently where they saw the outline of Port Moraq.

As ports along the Jade Sea went it was a fairly prosperous place. Almost every ship heading west out of the Jade Sea stopped there as did most ships heading east into that same sea. You could find people from all over the word there and just about anything you could name was for sale. The last time she’d been here she’d been with Grazdan and had been entered into several pit fights against some very skilled competition. She still had the scars from the last battle, a fight with swords, against a man from the Summer Islands.

As she stood with her hands on the railing a gruff voice said from beside her “you fight good”. The phrasing and diction were guttural as though the speaker had only a tenuous grasp of YiTish. Turning she saw it was the strange crew member with the long braid and tanned skin. She’d noticed he always kept to himself aboard ship, eating and sleeping apart from his crewmates. As far as she knew this was the first words he’d spoken to anyone on the journey.

“Thanks?” she said eventually, unsure what he expected from her.

“You fight like Dothraki, my people” he said, placing a palm on his chest for emphasis. 

“That’s good I take it?” she asked. She’d heard of the Dothraki but only as a distant rumor. When most people from Yi Ti thought of nomadic raiders they thought of the Jogos Nhai, but from what she’d heard the Dothraki might be just as fearsome.

“Is” he said flatly.

“So how did you end up here then?...” Ytani asked “...isn’t your home a very long way from here?”.

“Is” he said. The stared broodingly at the port for a few moments before saying “...Terro wounded in quarrel long ago, left to die by man who hurt him. Slavers find Terro and chain him”.

Ytani assumed that ‘Terro’ was his name. It sounded alien to her but the rest of the story was all too familiar. She got the impression that he would think much less of her if she offered any kind of sympathy, and it wasn’t as though she was overflowing with it anyway. Everyone had problems after all. Instead she asked “then why are you on this ship?”.

“Codd...buy me, then free me...offer me chance to get rich” he said though he sounded disdainful about the last part.

“You don’t want to get rich?” she asked puzzled. The concept of another human who was NOT trying to take as much as they possibly could before they died was alien to her.

“Dothraki do not buy, do not sell, that for lesser people” Terro said with pride. Ytani thought this was idiotic but she didn’t say so and eventually Terro said “I stay because of debt to Codd, and not know how to get home, Codd will take me someday”. He sounded so absolutely certain of this that Ytani didn’t argue. She was spared having to respond however when she heard a familiar huffing and jangling sound.

Terro seemed to melt away as Maester Beolig said from behind her “he is...a fascinating study is he not?”. The man was, as always, dressed in his weird costume of grey robe and chain made of mismatched links of different metals.

“If you say so” Ytani said, somewhat irritated at the Maester’s presence. She had in fact been interested to talk to Terro if for no other reason than she seemed to be the only one so honored. Beolig had seemingly scared the Dothraki away and now she was left with no one else for company.

Both Codd and Ser Thorance seemed convinced that Beolig would be crucial to the success of their shared goal. Ytani was far more skeptical as her previous experience with Beolig had convinced her he was simply a slightly more well educated drunk than most, and yet a drunk he remained. Still he had apparently written a book at some point on wyverns and as it was their goal to capture several of the monstrous creatures she supposed his knowledge couldn’t hurt.

Unfortunately, being constantly reminded of his own value and and indispensable status had gone straight to his already inflated head. When he’d simply been a passenger on Grazdan’s ship she’d thought he was pompous and took inclined to lecture anyone on any subject at the slightest provocation but ultimately harmless. His bumbling had even occasionally incited a kind of amused pity in her. A few days as the center of attention aboard the Green Kraken had amplified all of his negative traits while minimizes his saving graces. Much to everyone else’s chagrin.

Codd seemed to be the only one who was immune to this irritation. Each night he’d endured long winded and tedious lectures on a variety of topics, often without even a tangential link to their journey. And yet he nodded and smiled through them all, seemingly genuinely interested in everything from why certain things floated to the culture of some people Beolig called ‘wildlings’. Ytani and Zhara had accepted an invitation to the first dinner. And Ytani had adamantly refused to go the second. Though Zhara had attended. Ytani had taken to eating the same food as the crew, a nameless brown stew with chunks of string meat and pale vegetables. Usually she’d done this on deck because in her own cabin she could still distant hear Beolig’s droning through the floorboards. 

Coming out of this reverie she realized that he had in fact been talking the whole time. Apparently oblivious to her lack of attentiveness. She was about to simply leave when he looked at her expectantly. Realizing he must have asked her a question and she asked “what?”.

Looking annoyed Beolig asked “will you be coming with us?”

“Where?”

Pursing his lips in frustration Beolig said “with Captain Codd and I when we go to see the merchant in Port Moraq?”.

“What merchant?”

“Weren’t you listening to anything I said?” Beolig said, now obviously miffed.

“No, I rarely do” Ytani said. Beolig looked ruffled but then tried to assume the air of someone who was above caring what other thought. He didn’t do so very well and he seemed on the point of leaving when his compulsive need to demonstrate his knowledge of everything took over.

“Captain Codd and I are going into the port to speak to a merchant he’s been in contact with. This merchant manufactures and sells weapons of war and claims to posses several items we will need for our journey to Sothoryos” Beolig said in the tone he often used when speaking to Ytani, similar to one he might use when speaking to a child.

“I see…” Ytani said but then stopped talking, knowing it would make Beolig uncomfortable.

“So will you be joining us?” Beolig asked her impatiently. For reasons she didn’t see it seemed that the Maester very much wanted her to accompany them.

“Maybe…” Ytani said, again to irritate him, she then pushed off from the rail and added “...I’ll ask Codd if he wants me along”. The implication that she was cutting Beolig out of the conversation clearly annoyed him as she’d known it would. Beolig liked to feel he was very important to important people and thus liked to be part of all discussions even if they didn’t pertain to him.

Ytani didn’t give him a chance to object though as she headed to the forward mast and began climbing quickly. She knew Beolig couldn’t follow her up even if he’d wanted to. As she’d expected she found Codd with one arm wrapped around the mast sitting on one of the yards. She noted that he seemed to prefer being up here to anywhere else on the ship. When he saw her clambering up he offered her a hand which she ignored and a moment later she was sitting on the other side of the mast from him.

“I assume the good Maester asked if you’d accompany us to buy our weapons?” Codd asked as he stared at the port ahead of them.

“Did you send him to do that?” Ytani asked.

“No, but I knew telling him about our errand would probably do the same thing” Codd said as he looked down at Beolig who was obviously still fuming at being left on the deck.

“Do you need me to come with?”

“I don’t see why, though you are welcome to if you like, I’m just going to buy some scorpion’s for the ship and Ser Thorance” Codd told her as he shifted on his perch. This made sense to Ytani, the weapons would probably prove useful against any wyvern’s they encountered. 

“Well I do have some business of my own I’d like to take care of in port” Ytani said eventually after she’d pondered on the possibility of having to fight wyverns for awhile.

“Please do so then, though our Maester will be disappointed I’m sure” Codd said in reply. Ytani knew he was grinning even without looking over at him. The thought in his mind had actually occurred to her many times since she’d met Beolig though she wasn’t sure how bringing her alone to by siege weapons would help him accomplish it. Codd broke in on her thoughts when he asked “why do you think he’s so interested in you?”.

She gave him a pitying look and said “you’re a big boy Codd, you figure it out”.

He chuckled at this and said “technically all Maesters are supposed to forswear that sort of thing-...”.

“Oh well as long as he promised’ Ytani cut in sarcastically.

“...but I sense there is something more to it than that, just be careful. He may be essential to our mission but that doesn’t mean I trust him” Codd finished as though he hadn’t been interrupted.

“I can take care of myself” Ytani said automatically.

“That you can” he said amicably.

Rather than continue on this line of conversation Ytani asked “where will Ser Thorance be while we’re in port?”.

“Someone has to be in charge on the ship, and the crew will listen to him” Codd said.

"How long will we be in port?" Ytani asked.

"Hard to say but ideally less than three days" Codd answered.

"And you're going to see this merchant as soon as we arrive?"

"That's right"

"Any reason I have to sleep aboard the ship?"

Codd found this amusing but said simply "None, just be back before we weigh anchor"

"Fair enough" Ytani said before falling silent. She'd ask Zhara if she wanted to come with her into the port before she left the ship since the Summer Islander had mentioned wanting to sleep on solid ground again. The rocking of the ship didn't bother Ytani particularly but since she need to fence some of the item's she'd taken from Grazdan's ship she figured she'd be flush with coin soon, flush enough to indulge in a room a nice inn. And if during that time they decided they didn't actually want to continue with Codd and his crew they could always just fail to turn up when the Green Kraken left.

Ytani and Codd continued to sit in silence as the Jade Kraken sailed serenely into the harbor of Port Moraq. The setting sun over the Jade Sea painted the most white buildings of the port in shades of red and orange that really were quite beautiful. Sometime later Codd excused himself and hurried down the mast to make preparations for their docking which left Ytani alone to contemplate the port in the dying light of day. Here they would get the tools they needed to accomplish their impossible task, here they’d be one step closer to being true wyvern hunters and hopefully one step closer to be rich. Or they'd just ensure they'd end up being well equipped corpses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always it's been a real pleasure bringing you another chapter in Ytani's adventures. Thank you so much for everyone who took the time to read this or the previous chapters, and doubly so to those who commented and/or left kudos. Check back next week for another chapter!
> 
> PS Thank you for bearing with me as I become more confident using Archive of Our Own, apologies if my recent reorganization threw anyone. All the Jade Cantata works should now be part of one thing now

**Author's Note:**

> My first foray into fan fiction, this project began as a simple exercise to combat writers block on my other projects. I really hope you have as much fun reading it as I do writing it.


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